1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to processing key strings used to license software or hardware and, more particularly, to segmenting such license keys to facilitate errorless manual entry of such key strings.
2. Related Art
Many software packages such as operating systems and application programs are licensed by suppliers to end-users for use on one or more licensed computers or by one or more users. To prevent unlicensed use, a typical licensed software package is designed to require a potential user to enter a valid license key during installation or activation of the software package. Without entry of the valid license key, the software package will either not properly install or not operate.
A typical license key comprises a relatively long string of characters, often more than 20 characters in length. Suppliers typically use automated systems to generate a unique key string for each unit of each software package they produce. The unique key string is usually printed on a piece of paper, which is then included with each unit of the corresponding software package. Other times, the user obtains the key string via an e-commerce web site. To install or activate the software package, the user must read and correctly enter the key string using a keyboard.
Key strings often include encrypted information that software packages use to verify the validity of the entered key strings. Consequently, the key strings appear to contain random or nonsense characters from the perspective of the user. Many users have difficulty correctly entering such long, nonsensical strings of characters.